Spotted seatrout fishing is better in Georgia than in many other areas around the South that have glowing reputations for top-notch trouting. It's so good, in fact, that even during an "off-day," Georgia anglers who don't catch a dozen trout say they've had a bad trip. During the peak spring seatrout season it's not unusual for a couple of anglers fishing from a skiff to catch 100 or more seatrout per day! And much of the best and most consistent action for the good-eating spotted trout is found right in and around the state's large coastal towns.

Seatrout fishing always has been good throughout the labyrinth of inshore creeks, rivers, sounds, bays and estuaries along the comparatively unpopulated Georgia Coast. But in recent years the state's trout angling has been remarkable.

Most veteran trout fishermen and some marine biologists believe the boon to Georgia's trout fishing is the result of a general inshore commercial shrimp trawling ban. While some very limited shrimp trawling is allowed occasionally in some sounds, anglers and scientists say that by protecting Georgia's inshore shrimp nursery grounds, the state's tidewaters are attracting, holding and nurturing more seatrout than ever before because shrimp are the preferred and prime forage for trout. In addition, inshore gill-netting is unlawful in Georgia. So commercial netters don't cut into the state's bumper seatrout population — leaving more fish for sport anglers.

In addition, Georgia has tight recreational bag limits on trout , with a minimum length limit. Such limits are welcomed by many sportsmen, as it will help assure that over-fishing of trout is a thing of the past.

Georgia has two peak seatrout seasons — one in spring, the other in fall and early winter. Many of the biggest trout are caught in spring when roe-swollen females move inshore to spawn. Historically, the bulk of the state's trout weighing four pounds or more are caught from March through July.

Although spring is the best time to catch big Georgia seatrout, fickle weather and strong-running tides can botch fishing in short order. Heavy rains can muddy tidal creeks, bays, sounds and even the surf. And turbid water conditions turn off trout fast. In addition, along much of the Georgia Coast the difference between high and low tide can be eight feet! During the new and full moon phases in spring, tides are at their strongest and have their highest and lowest peaks — not the times to try for trout.

Such greatly-fluctuating tides, incidentally, mandate that most fishing camps utilize boat lifts instead of boat ramps. For this reason, anglers trailering their boats to the coast for trout fishing should be certain their skiffs have solid, well-maintained "boat rings" for the lifts used to set their boats into the water. Most of the newer fishing camp boat lifts utilize "cradles" instead of hooks for boat rings. But it's best to be safe, not sorry, after a long trip to the coast. So have lifting rings on your boat — just in case.

Most Georgia trout in spring are caught in the lower coastal rivers, bays, sounds and creeks around the Intracoastal Waterway. Where the fish will be found is very dependent on the weather. If it's cold and overcast, they will be deep. If warm, sunny spring weather is ongoing, the fish will be in the shallower creeks, holding around oyster bars, grass banks and the like.

When spring trout are concentrated in comparatively shallow creeks and rivers, the water is usually clear and natural foods are at a minimum (most shrimp have moved out of the creeks for offshore spawning), so the trout are hungry and unusually aggressive. They can be counted on to greedily hit artificial lures. Bucktail and plastic-tail jigs (one-fourth to one-half-ounce, in yellow, white, brown and silver), sinking plugs such as Mirrolures and even surface plugs such as "Bang-O-Lures" and Rebels all work well. Naturally, live shrimp are deadly baits, too, especially in cold weather when trout are deep.

Most Georgia seatrout anglers drift and cast lures, or, if working a known trout hot spot, they'll anchor and cast. Slow-trolling with jigs and deep-going plugs is smart for anglers unfamiliar with an area or when searching for schools of fish. Deep holes in feeder creeks can have trout stacked in them like bait in a bucket. This is the time when huge catches of seatrout can be made. For example, Savannah's George Schauber and two friends caught 131 trout in a single day while fishing the lower Ogeechee River, just south of Savannah.

Even anglers new to Georgia seatrout fishing have little trouble catching at least some fish during the peak spring action. In addition, trout anglers commonly catch flounder, redfish (it's legal to harvest them), bluefish and common weakfish (locally called summer or "yellowmouth" trout).

There are literally thousands of prime seatrout fishing spots scattered throughout the Georgia Coast, many right near the great visitor facilities of Savannah. Seatrout are caught in the Savannah River proper, especially in the lower river around oyster bars and sand shoals. But the bulk of the best trout action is found south of the main body of the Savannah River, around the coastal creeks and marshes of Tybee, Little Tybee, Wassaw, Skidaway, Ossabaw and St. Catherines islands.

This area is a vast, marine nursery wonderland, full of creeks and rivers, open sounds, inlets and bays — everything a die-hard seatrout angler could ask for.

Tybee Inlet and Tybee Creek — which separate Tybee Island from Little Tybee Island
— are prime seatrout bets. Most small creeks off Tybee Creek (east of Greater Savannah) and the nearby Intracoastal Waterway are great places for seatrout. Among the more notable waters in this area are: Chimney, Lazaretto, Oyster, House, Carter, Richardson, St. Augustine, Betz, Long, Tom and Beard creeks.

Farther south, virtually all the creeks and tributaries off Ossabaw Sound in the Raccoon Key area hold trout. Adams Creek on the Wassaw Island side of Ossabaw Sound and the Bradley River on the Ossabaw Island side of the sound, are especially good. Much of the Ogeechee River upstream for as much as 10 miles also has great seatrout fishing.

Not as many people fish the Intracoastal Waterway as they do the main rivers and creeks, but there is excellent action to be had in the ICW. The Burnside, Skidaway and Vernon rivers near the Isle of Hope area of Savannah are good bets, too.

Some excellent surf fishing also can be found for seatrout during spring. Much of it is done from boats by anchoring near the breakers. Caution is the rule here, especially for neophytes to this kind of fishing. Standard surf fishing from the beach is best for anglers unaccustomed to anchoring boats in sloughs near breaking waves — particularly in spring when wind may be strong. The north beach of Wassaw Island, the beaches along Ossabaw and St. Catherines islands, and McQueens Inlet on the ocean side of St. Catherines Island all are good seatrout surf bets.

Marinas where anglers can rent small skiffs and outboards for inshore fishing are rare along the Georgia Coast. But there plenty of bait and tackle shops in even the smallest coastal towns where angling information, and sometimes boat rentals, can be found. Savannah, Savannah Beach, Darien, Brunswick and the "Golden Isles" (which include St. Simons, Jekyll and Little St. Simons) are the best places to headquarter for a Georgia seatrout trip. All have restaurants and good accommodations, and the people are every bit as friendly as Southerners are supposed to be.

One of the best sources of current fishing camp, boat rental and angling information for the Georgia Coast is the Coastal Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (1200 Glynn Ave., Brunswick, Ga. 31523, phone (912) 264-7218). The biologists there are a mine of seatrout angling information.